Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the Gaza Strip is a Palestinian territory, not Israeli and called for an end to Israel’s war on the enclave and a complete withdrawal from the besieged enclave, reported the Jerusalem Post.
“[Gaza] has to be part of the Palestinian state,” said the former premier at the two-day People’s Peace Summit on Thursday.
“There should be a new administration linked to the Palestinian Authority, with executive powers, that will be able to rebuild Gaza,” Olmert added.
The event was organised by It’s Time, a coalition of over 60 Jewish and Arab peacebuilding and society organisations, and supported in part by the New Israel Fund.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the summit was the largest civilian anti-war event in Israel since October 2023.
The occupation state completely sealed the Gaza Strip on 2 March, banning the entry of food, water and medicines, in violation of international laws.
Weeks later, on 19 March, the occupation army renewed a deadly assault on the enclave, shattering the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.
It has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023, most of them women and children.
